Torn Read Online Free PDF Page A

remark on his weakness when she’d hoped to spend the night cowering in her room while a truly brave man suffered above.
    She reached for her wooden supply box, and Bron scoffed, “That’s foolish.
    Nothing in that box can help him tonight.”
    “I’m a healer now, remember? I feel comfortable carrying my tools just as I once carried weapons.”
    “Once,” Bron sneered.
    Honey Wine followed him down the corridor and up ten long flights of stone steps to The Lady’s work chamber.
    Four torches lit the round chamber. The only window was a tiny circular hole close to the high ceiling. Far from the ground and secluded from the rest of the palace, the room’s location ensured no one could hear the screams sounding from The Lady’s victims as she worked.
    Manacles dangled from chains hanging from the ceiling in the center of the room, and on the floor below them ankle cuffs waited to hold the victim completely immobile. When the prisoner was tied, The Lady would have full access to his entire body, back and front. Honey Wine knew how devilishly she used this advantage. She’d seen her work before.
    A stone couch cushioned in brown velvet was positioned before the chains so that The Mistress could observe the punishment. She didn’t order such tortures often, but saved them as a treat to herself and lessons for those rare champions or enemies of state foolish enough to cherish their desires above hers.
    Bron left Honey Wine alone inside, and she paced the room, wishing to be anyplace but there. How could she watch this punishment without revealing what she felt for the Knight? What would happen to both of them if her sister found out, and worse, how could Honey Wine plan their escape if The Mistress knew she cared for him?
    The door burst open and guards dragged the Knight inside. They fitted his hands in the manacles above his head and his ankles in the cuffs on the floor so his long, sinewy body stretched almost immobile. She tried not to look at him, but couldn’t help herself. An inkling of fear gleamed beneath the endless patience in his dark blue eyes.
    “Ah, Honey Wine!” The Mistress swept into the room, her straight, black hair hanging to her buttocks, her tall, curvaceous body covered in a robe of black silk, a red sash about her narrow waist. Her pale skin made her molasses-colored eyes look even darker.
    Many considered her a beautiful woman and often remarked on how much Honey Wine looked like her, except Honey Wine’s body was more thickly muscled and her skin tanned from spending days on the field. Or at least it had been tanned once. Now she bore the same pallor as everyone else who spent their lives in the prison below. Only Honey Wine’s eyes were different from her sister’s. They were light brown, almost tan, thus her name Honey Wine.
    “It’s been so long since this chamber has been in use, and I know how you love to watch The Lady work,” The Mistress continued, voice dripping sarcasm.
    Everyone knew how Honey Wine despised such punishments, particularly since it was never criminals who suffered them.
    “This is unworthy even of you, Alva,” Honey Wine said.
    “Why?” She smiled and walked to the Knight. “Because he’s of the Ruby Order? Because some consider them untouchable and holy? He looks quite touchable to me. Quite handsome.”
    Alva splayed her hands across the Knight’s lean chest, her fingers biting into muscle. She stood on tiptoe, and her tongue snaked across his mouth. He turned his head in disgust, and Honey Wine’s fists clenched at her sides. Maybe if she lunged quickly, she could break The Mistress’s neck…
    Too late. Guards stepped inside, carrying a round stool and a narrow table covered in leather, The Lady behind them.
    The Lady scarcely reached Honey Wine’s shoulder in height. Her golden hair was pulled into a severe bun on the very top of her head, causing her narrow blue eyes to slant. Her face was thin, cheekbones prominent. Though at first glance her